Hi there, I’m currently using Sketchup Make but would like to start using SU Podium and I’m looking for a sub-$1k laptop, but honestly I don’t have a clue about what specs to look for. I’ve been looking at the Asus VivoBook, but is 8gb of RAM enough?
Thank you! 
What complexity of models do you expect to work on over the life of the laptop, and does SU podium use CPU or GPU rendering?
I’ll use it for interior decorating (showing what a room would look like with a fresh coat of paint and new furnishings for instance). And it uses CPU rendering
Asus are generally a decent build quality - 8GB of ram is limiting for hi-res renders 4k+. Recommend checking reviews of the laptop.
thin & light laptops are not powerful
powerful laptops are not thin and light
GPU looks a bit weak
“U” suffix CPU’s aren’t powerful, but energy efficient
notebooks using the nVidia Max-Q technology (= GeForce GTX) can be (relatively) light and thin.
I’m aware of the Max-Q technology, and what it entails, it’s a compromise. For most a worthwhile option…
an available GTX 1080 Max-Q doesn’t seem to be a compromise, at least performance wise… and weight of the linked systems seems to be acceptable too.
These are i5 at under 1000, and a bit over 1000 if you get the i7 hexacore.
It is nice that they’ll upgrade you to Windows Pro for 60 bucks so you don’t need to do it yourself later. (It costs the same if you do the upgrade.)
From the reference site you provided (using the compare function), the GTX 1080 Max-Q is roughly 14,5% slower than a GTX 1080 desktop; roughly 5,6% slower than a desktop GTX 1070; roughly 5,7% faster than a desktop GTX 1060 (the extra RAM also doesn’t hurt in the GTX 1080 Max-Q). I’ve read other sources stating that the GTX 1080 Max-Q can be up to 25% slower than the desktop GTX 1080. Performance wise, being somewhere between a desktop GTX 1070 and desktop GTX 1060 isn’t a bad spot to be.
A GTX 1070 Max-Q is roughly equivalent to a desktop GTX 1060 (not 3GB or 5GB versions).
You do get laptops / notebooks with desktop equivalents of the GTX 1080 / 1070 / 1060, but that too is a compromise as they’re not thin and light (or inexpensive), in fact you can get a laptop with 2x desktop grade GTX 1080’s but I’ll admit they’re not for everyone.